Just a Kanto Hillbilly
by Nix98
Summary: I don't have some grand destiny or impossible goal. I'm not seeking to become champion of anything or to even be very good at what I do. I'm just in it for the adventure, for the pokemon, and all the crazy things that will happen along the way.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not, have never, and most likely will never own Pokemon in any way, shape or form. This story is just for the personal enjoyment of those that read it and does not, nor ever will, receive any monetary. Thank you.**

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Smogon. The ideology most trainers rally behind.

It was known for producing some of the best trainers in the world. Master battlers who could fine tune any team to perfection with extensive knowledge on anything and everything related to pokemon.

Smogon is all about figuring out the best way to win. Which pokemon were the strongest. What should each pokemon hold in battle. Which pokemon you should train against to correctly build up your team to be the way you want. The best Smogon Trainers frequently became champions and those that implemented it correctly and effectively were commonly referred to as Ace Trainers.

True Smogon trainers were the best of the best. These trainers would raise teams of pokemon together from the day they were born to work as a team, to be able to analyze the situation and know how to win, or to set up a victory for a later teammate if they couldn't. Trainers have absolute faith in their team because they know exactly what they can do, and in return their pokemon have absolute trust in their trainer to bring them through the battle to victory.

And then there are Meta Trainers.

A Meta Trainer is the ideology of Smogon at its most basic; and most corrupted. They see only stats and pokemon. If they catch a pokemon to have a tank, it will be a tank regardless of its EVs or IVs. A Meta Trainer might care for their pokemon, but in the end they care most about the results they can get out of a pokemon. They usually only hold on to a losing pokemon because of the time and effort that they have put into it. They aren't necessarily bad people. They're just short sighted in their goals.

Me? I'm neither.

I grew up in a small forest town hidden away in Kanto. There are dozens of similar towns scattered around every region sending out their bug trainers and youngsters to explore the routes near to home. I did no such thing. I spent my early childhood and teens working on my Mom's farm. She thought it would be good if I learned the family trade early. Besides, with Dad out patrolling nearby routes everyday with the rest of the Ranger Police someone had to pick up the slack.

It was nice and I never really felt myself wanting for anything growing up. I had my Mom during the day and my Dad to tell me stories at night, but I always felt anxious about something, like I should be doing something else.

Growing up I rarely noticed it. So what if my eyes were drawn to the youngsters battling next to the the field as I pulled weeds, I just wanted to make sure they weren't going to destroy our crop. Who cared if I would stop to watch some lasses battle with their caterpies, farm work was boring. But as I got older I couldn't ignore it anymore. I didn't have some unreachable goal grand destiny in place, I just wanted to battle. I wanted to train pokemon and challenge trainers and gym leaders, to develop the bond with pokemon that I saw between the other children and their pokemon. To laugh and play with pokemon like they did.

Standing up from the hill I had been laying on I watched as the sun rose and the dawn of a new day was born. The golden beams of light slowly overcoming the thin mist that had covered the village since dusk of the previous day. Hearing rustling grass behind me I turned and saw my Mom walk towards me.

"I still don't agree with you, but I know that I can't change you mind at this stage." she said as she joined me on top of the hill. From my belt I plucked a small red and white sphere and brought it to her attention. "Don't worry so much Mom" I say, mirth slipping into my voice as I look at the concerned expression on her face "I have my Rattata to protect me." This did not seem to give her any sense of relief.

"I guess that Dad had to leave for work early today"

"Yes, he said he was sorry that he couldn't see you off but that there was an unruly flock of pidgey in the area and they needed all the rangers they could get."

"That's okay, I'll try and find him on my way to the next town." I say as I turn to my Mom. I give her one last hug before I begin to walk down the hill and into the woods following the beaten path to the next town.

As I walked into that forest leaving my Mom on the hill and a Rattata on my waist I had no idea just how crazy my life would become.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not, have never, and most likely will never own Pokemon in any way, shape or form. This story is just for the personal enjoyment of those that read it and does not, nor ever will, receive any monetary funding. Thank you.**

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When I was growing up I didn't have a lot of spare time. Working the farm was hard and there was always something that need to be done. But when I did have some time to myself I would go out into the woods and explore. I found all sorts of things, but most importantly I never went to far from the village. There are all sorts of pokemon out there and many of them aren't very friendly to humans.

But given that I was now a Pokemon Trainer I figured I would be fine if I explored a bit off the beaten path so long as I had my Rattata walking by my side.

"Oh God! They're gaining!"

Now given everything I have just described, you might not be too surprised

"Rattata use quick attack!"

That I had a swarm of Beedrill behind me.

Rattata's quick attack had brought the total number of Beedrill chasing us down to four. But that was still four angry Bug Types that wanted us out of their territory. Taking a glance back I saw that one of the Beedrill was speeding up, getting ready to ram us. Probably a tackle if I had to guess.

The buzz in the air got louder as it the Beedrill accelerated towards us. I took another costly glance behind us and got a face full of Bug Type for my curiosity.

The impact of the tackle forced me to the ground, gasping for breath. Franticly breathing in air I scurried forward on my hands and knees, trying to get away. Rattata, bless her soul, hadn't hesitated to pounce on the nearby Beedrill, taking advantage of the distance between it and its brethren to remove another threat.

Coughing and struggling for breath I stood and began to limp forward, Rattata at my side, trying to get away.

I'm not going to lie, I things might not have turned out so well if Dad hadn't showed up at that moment.

"Pachirisu, Thunderwave!"

Pachirisu was Dad's assist pokemon. Every ranger is allowed to have a pokemon partner to help with a capture or general calming or a pokemon. Pachirisu had been with Dad for as long as I could remember and was one of the most useful assist pokemon around, learning a specialized version of thunderwave that would all but stop a pokemon's movement for up to 15 seconds but leave no lasting status conditions. Perfect for dealing with wild pokemon that you didn't want to take to a pokemon center.

"Capture Styler go." he said, his voice light as with a few strokes and spins of his hand the styler circled the Beedrill, calming them down and sending them on their way.

Finally catching my breath I returned rattata to her pokeball, she deserved a rest, and stumbled over to Dad.

"Thanks for the assist, i'm guessing Mom called you?"

Frowning he turned to me; gave me a once over, seemed to decide I was fine and hadn't been hurt, then smiled and answered me. "You got that right" he said. His voice filled with relief and a hit of amusement "And a good thing too, you looked like you were about to be turned into a pincushion by those Beedrill."

Laughing in relief that I was okey I sat down and settled up against a tree. I closed my eyes and relaxed for a minute. Then something occurred to me.

"Hey Dad?"

"Hmm?" he replies from across from me, leaning against another tree, eyes closed, taking in the sounds in the forest.

"How did you know I was in trouble?"

Cracking his eyes open he laughed and walked over to me and and took off the pack he was wearing, and offered it to me. "It looks like in their rush to start their journey, someone forgot all their equipment." he said, clearly finding the who thing outrageously funny. " You were an hour gone by the time your Mother realized you forgot your travel pack. So she had Mrs. Tanner's Pidgeotto fly it out to me along with a quick message asking if I could get it to you."

Blushing as bright as my my rusty hair I reached out to grab my pack, only to find it wouldn't budge. Looking up at my Dad I saw mirth morph into a concerned expression he openly wore on his face as he tightly gripped the strap.

"Are you really sure that you can do this?" he quietly asked all humor gone from his voice. We both knew what it was, just a last ditch effort to try and change my mind. We've had similar conversations ever since I announced my plans to go traveling. "I mean. You've only been gone for a few hours and you already forgot your travel pack and enraged a swarm of Beedrill. Are you sure that your cut out for this?"

"I didn't provoke them" I exclaimed "I was traveling just a short distance from the path to try and find any berries and Rattata wandered off. By the time I found her it was too late and she was already being chased by the Beedrill."

Dad just sighed. "As her trainer what she does is your responsibility. What would you have said to me if your Rattata had attacked a human, someone who couldn't fight back. Would you have said that it was her fault then?"

The blush was back "No. I'm sorry, I know what you mean, what I did was irresponsible. As a Pokemon Trainer I should be aware of my pokemon at all times or else they could do something irreversible." I stammer out.

Giving me one more onceover Dad took a deep breath and release the pack allowing me to sling it over my shoulders. He seemed to hesitate for a second before he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pokeball.

"I know you know, i'm just worried." he sounded weary now. "I also know that it took you quite a while to save up enough money to buy Rattata's pokeball." Handing me the pokeball in his hand he said "I know it isn't much but I thought you might encounter a pokemon you wanted to catch for your team before you got to town."

I stared down at the pokeball in disbelief, then looked up at Dad. Mom and Dad didn't want me to go traveling. We had a lot of arguments about that, plenty of shouting and the house was so tense that I actually looked forward to working on the farm away form them. Eventually I got them to agree that if I could catch my own starter pokemon before my 15th birthday I could go. It had taken me over a year of holding onto every scrap of money I could get my hands on to buy my first pokeball and even more effort to catch a pokemon without any kind of assistance. To see him give me a pokeball was something that I had never expected. It was essentially my Dad giving his blessing for my journey.

I pulled him into a hug, tears beginning to form around my eyes. He returned the hug.

"Good luck. And be safe out there kiddo" he whispered into my ear.

I nodded back at him, not trusting myself with words right now.

Coming out of the hug I calmed myself down and simply said "Thank you." before I turned and began to head back to the beaten path, my new pokeball clutched in my hand, relief washing through me as I now knew that I could make my journey with a clear conscience.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not, have never, and most likely will never own Pokemon in any way shape or form. This story is just for the personal enjoyment of those that read it and does not, nor ever will, receive any monetary funding. Thank you.**

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As I walked through the woods I couldn't help but fiddle with the new pokeball in my hand, pressing the button repeatedly just watching it expand and contract. Expand and contract. Expand. Contract. It was an incredibly calming action, a constant reminder of my parents blessing.

I contract the ball one more time before tearing my attention away from it, still keeping it grasped in my hand. Wouldn't want to walk into another tree. Even if no one else was around to laugh it still hurt.

Turning my head to the sky I shaded my eyes with my hand as I checked the angle of the sun. It had only been a few hours since I had left and the sun was still shining brilliantly, breaking out from behind whatever clouds dared to try and cover it. Judging from the angle it couldn't be more than 8:00 or 9:00.

Hearing a whoosh and seeing a flash of red in the corner of my eye I quickly turned to my left and gaped at what was in front of me.

A young Vulpix surrounded by several Weedle that were closing in on it, they appeared to have evaded the small ember attack sent at them. Based on the single white tail and the short tuft of fur sticking up on its' head the poor fox pokemon couldn't have been more than a year old seeing as it hadn't even grown into its most recognizable characteristics.

There had been rumors before I left of a Ninetales raising a litter of Vulpix somewhere in the forest, but I didn't put any stock into it at the time. Ninetales were notoriously rare and fiercely guarded their young. As a consequence very few people had seen, much less caught either of them. Furthermore rumors like this one popped up every now and then in a small village, usually to give the townsfolk and bored children something to talk about. I think the last rumor claimed that a Clefairy was granting the wishes of whatever person found its home the woods.

I couldn't help but grin despite the situation in front of me. A Vulpix would be a fantastic addition to my team and given how rare Fire Types are in Kanto it would definitely give me an edge this early in my trainer career. I was broken out of my fantasies by the yelp the small fox made as the Weedles peppered it with poison sting. Right, I could think about that latter, first I needed to save it.

"Rattata use tackle" I shouted the command as I released her from the pokeball on my waist. She charged forward and tackled one of the Weedle to the ground, breaking the ring that was trapping the Vulpix.

Seeing the break in the enemies defence the Vulpix let out a small ember, hitting another Weedle and causing it to retreat, the other downed Bug Type following its' lead. With another command for tackle and a quick attack Rattata reduced the number of Weedle by two and with a surprising show of strength the Vulpix had taken out another one with a tackle using its' small body.

The Weedle that were left tried to trap Rattata and the Vulpix using string shot, but an ember quickly burnt through it and another 3 Weedle were sent running with bruises and burn marks covering their bodies. Vulpix and my Rattata seemed to be getting in the swing of things and were quickly bringing the battle to an end

Looking at the battlefield I saw Rattata and Vulpix picking of the last of their enemies and I knew this was my only chance. During the fight Vulpix had recovered and was begun to actively participate in the battle. If I didn't try and catch it now the fox was going to get away. With only 2 Weedle left Rattata shouldn't have any trouble fighting without Vulpix by her side.

My mind steeled I pushed the button on my only pokeball causing it to expand, took aim, and throw it at the Vulpix. It almost seemed to happen in slow motion. I watched as the ball spun, its aim spot on. I felt the excitement in my chest try and explode as I tried to keep quiet, not wanting to startle the Vulpix.

Then I watched in horror as the Vulpix moved, tackling the Weedle in front of Rattata. My excitement froze in my throat and I could almost feel it as it plummeted into my stomach. But the pokeball didn't stop moving, its aim was true and I watched in disbelief as it hit the Weedle that had been directly in front of the Vulpix when I threw it. I prayed for it to spit the Weedle back out but my hopes were crushed when the mechanical click echoed out of the pokeball and into forest around us.

I couldn't believe it. As I stumbled over to the pokeball and picked it up with my shaking hands I was only vaguely aware of Rattata and (not my) Vulpix finishing off the last Weedle together.

I stared at the pokeball containing my new partner and stilled my hand. Why? Why did Vulpix need to move? Why did that Weedle (my Weedle) need to be right behind Vulpix. Why did I have to waste the ball that Dad game me on something like a Weedle? Feeling something rubbing up against my leg I signed, clipped the pokeball to my belt and looked down.

To my utter shock, amazement, and guilt I found the very Vulpix that I had failed to catch nuzzling my leg. It happly yipped at my feet and ran towards to woods before stopping and looking back. Seeing that I wasn't following it ran back and bit the leg of my pants, trying to drag me along.

I stared in disbelief. It didn't even know what I had tried to do. As far as it seemed to be concerned I was its friend who had helped it when it was in danger. It didn't realize that I had tried to capture it, to take it from its home and family.

Realizing what I had almost done guilt took hold and I thanked the Weedle that I had caught. The Vulpix really was young. Nothing more than a baby. Even if I had caught it I wouldn't have been able to use it in battles until its' tails fully grew in which signified their maturity and could take years. All that I would have done was taken it from its home, and from its family prematurely.

Unsure of what to do as the Vulpix continued to tug on me I found myself looking at Rattata for answers.

She clearly realized that I had done. She was also less than impressed with how I had done it. But looking at the baby Vulpix, still trying to drag me further into the forest, she seemed to come to a decision.

She walked up to the Vulpix and helped him try and drag me.

Slightly worried I decided to relent and began to walk in the direction they were tugging me.

As soon as I took my first step both pokemon released me. Rattata heading off into the woods in the direction that we were apparently going. Vulpix yipped in excitement, circled me, then took off in the same direction as Rattata.

Slightly baffled I allowed my curiosity to smother the guilt I felt and continued to walk, following the two pokemon as the stayed just a ways ahead of me.

As we walked deeper into the forest I tried to keep a lookout for any territorial markings or wild animals. I had already been chased by one swarm of bugs today, I wasn't about to let that happen again.

We had to stop a few times and skirt around a few pokemon nests but it wasn't anything like the Beedrill from before, mostly just Pidgeys and a few Caterpies. Nothing serious.

I'm not sure how long we walked for. We were away from the path so the canopy formed by the tree tops blocked out much of the light making it nearly impossible to check the angle of the sun, but it couldn't have been more that an hour.

Eventually we reached what looked like a clearing, hidden away in the depths of the forest. It was small, not much wider than a house all the way across with trees hiding it on all sides. If you didn't know it was here than it would have been incredibly difficult to find. There were a few large rock scattered around and a small stream running close to the tree line near us. Off to one side, near the edge on the opposite side of the clearing as us was a small hole in the ground.

With a happy bark Vulpix dashed across the clearing and zipped into the hole.

Caught off guard I found myself standing there, unsure if I should proceed toward what appeared to be the Vulpix's home.

A few moments passed and Vulpix stick its head out of the hole, seemed happy that we were still there, then walked out and sat down on the ground not to far from its hole.

As we began to walk over to our recent companion I found myself stopping in shock.

From out of the fox hole came a majestic white fox. Her ruby red eyes glinted with the fire she held inside as she walked towards her cub. From right behind her came a trio of fox cubs that looked around the same age as the one we had found. They must have all been part of the same litter.

I watched as the Ninetales walked over to her cub and leaned her head down, touching noses with the young Vulpix and flicking one of her tails and making a quick yip. The Vulpix responded with a loud bark and did a quick circle around its mother before trying to touch noses again.

The Ninetales let out a short and then slowly walked across the clearing leaving the Vulpix to the mercy of its litter mates.

As She stalked across the clearing I felt a chill go down my spine and a drop of sweat down my face. Rattata, feeling threatened and nervous, hissed at the white fox and dashed in front of me.

Ninetales stopped halfway through the clearing and looked directly at me. She snorted and lifted up each of her tails, spreading them apart and lighting the tip of each one. With a slight growl she began to slowly advance towards us again.

I started walking backwards, away from the fox and her cubs with my hands in the air, hoping to ease away from her. Then Rattata stepped forward apprehensively to meet the Ninetales and I finally realized what was going on.

Oh shit.

She wanted to battle us.

 **Vulpix**

 _As it develops, its single white tail gais color and splits into six. It is quite warm and cuddly._

-Pokemon HG Pokedex entry


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not, have never, and most likely will never own Pokemon in any way shape or form. This story is just for the personal enjoyment of those that read it and does not, nor ever will, receive any monetary funding. Thank you.**

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With a flick of her tails the white fox sent the nine balls of fire whistling towards Rattata. The rat pokemon tried her best to evade them, dashing left and right and running around the clearing, but the fire just followed her, trailing behind and slowly closing ground.

It only took a few seconds but it seemed to last minutes as the fireballs creeped towards Rattata. "Quick attack into Ninetales!" I shouted hoping to increase Rattata's distance from the attack and inflict some damage onto the Ninetales.

Hearing my order Rattata began to speed up and change course, now heading towards the Ninetales who had been observing out panic attack from the center of the clearing. Rattata pulled away from the projectiles and rushed at the Ninetales, a white aura enveloping her as she leapt into the air, trying to slam the fox in her face.

It looked like the attack would go through, but something didn't feel right.

Why hadn't the Ninetales moved yet? It was slowly advancing right at the beginning but she stopped to charge that attack and sat down as soon as the fire left her tails. She also seemed calm, almost unconcerned with the 8 pound rat speeding towards her face.

The Ninetales flicked her ears before twisting her neck and head, dodging Rattata's quick attack, and using her mouth she caught Rattata by the tail. I watched in disbelief as Rattata flailed around, unable to do anything as the Ninetales' fire projectiles rushed towards her.

As they came into contact with her, instead of causing burns like I expected they instead faded, seemingly disappearing. They must have done something though because not a second later small tongues of flame showed themselves on Rattata, burning her and vanishing a moment later.

Ninetales then tossed Rattata to the ground and placed a paw on her side, digging her claws into Rattata's skin, Pinning her to the ground. Rattata was panicking now. Thrashing about desperately trying to free herself, letting out high pitched shrieks whenever the flames appeared and trying to claw her aggressors paw, to no avail.

In the background I could faintly make out the Vulpix cubs, yipping and growling in excitement. Was this why the Vulpix brought us here? To have its' mother beat us into the ground?

Frantically I tried to use my pokeball to return Rattata but Ninetales simply dragged Rattata through the dirt to prevent the pokeball's laser from reaching her. Turning to look at me I found her ruby eyes narrowed, they seemed to ask me if I planned to intervene again, if I planned to intervene again.

Swallowing the tension in my throat I knew the answer to these unspoken questions. Of course I would. This was my partner, I couldn't lose her, but what could I do? Rattata was pinned to the ground squeaking in pain as what I finally decided must be a burn status flared up again. My Weedle was still very injured from when I caught it and I didn't like my chances against that fox.

Realizing my only option if I wanted to make it out of this situation with Rattata I summoned my courage and mentally prepared myself. Why was I so stupid?

The moment Ninetales looked away from me and back at the rat pokemon it had pinned I made my move. I ran as fast as I could. Leaning forward I rushed the fox. I could see the moment she noticed my movement, her ears twitched, probably hearing my feet on the forest floor, and she looked up again.

Her eyes widened as I slammed into her with all the force of a running Fifteen year old. She fell onto her side with a yip of surprise and I picked Rattata up off the ground. Taking a glance at her I was relieved to see that the claw marks were mostly superficial and that she seemed to be mostly suffering from the burn, that gave me time to get her to a pokemon center I if ran the rest of the way to the city.

Hearing the white fox behind me cough and wheeze as she found her bearing I took that as my sign to leave. Pumping my legs I made a beeline for the edge of the clearing, intent on getting myself and my pokemon away from this Ninetales.

The same Ninetales that had recovered and just set the greenery in front of us on fire.

I slowly turned to face the Ninetales. I found myself breaking out into a sweat again, one that had nothing to do with the flaming shrubbery that was now at my back.

This Ninetales had us at her mercy. She always had. From the moment we entered her territory she had been toying with us and we never had a chance. We weren't likely to make it out of this in one piece. Realizing this I tried to wrap Rattata in my arms to protect her from what would no doubt happen.

It was in this position that Ninetales found me as she walked up to us. She looked at us for a few seconds and cocked her head to the side. Then she narrowed her eyes, snorted and turned around, walking back to her cubs.

I watched, unbelieving as she walked, swished her tails back and forth before sitting down by one of her cubs. I stared dumbly as she touched noses with the cub and made a few barks and flicked three tails towards their Vulpix barked happily and circled it's mother, even running through her many tails before darting into their fox hole and returning with a berry in its' mouth.

Then to my shock they both turned away from the rest of the cubs and walked over to us. Oh god, was the Ninetales going to have the Vulpix be the one to kill us?

They walked casually, with none of the Ninetales' previous tension in their walk. As they reached us the Ninetales sat to the side as the Vulpix walked right up to us and dropped the berry it had been holding at my feet.

My grip on Rattata loosened as I examined the berry the Vulpix had just dropped. Its' leaves were short and a deep green while the berry itself was a bright blue. I was able to determine that it was a Rawst Berry. While they weren't very common in Kanto but my folks had tried to grow some a few years back. They had a bitter taste that few people enjoyed. However Rawst Berries were not usually used as a food item. Instead they were known for their ability to cure pokemon of the burn ailment.

Slowly crouching down, my eyes still locked on the Ninetales and her cub, I picked up the Rawst Berry. Again, I stood up slowly so as not to provoke the pokemon in front of us. Now that I had the berry I tried to feed it to Rattata, having to force it into her mouth and hold her jaws shut so that she wouldn't spit it out. Something that she tried to do, even in her condition. It must have tasted really bad.

After forcing her to swallow it I could see her look better almost immediately. The tongues of flame were no longer appearing on her and her breathing became less labored. In only a few moments Rattata fell asleep.

Taking another glance at the calm white fox and happy little cub in front of us I realized that we might be out of trouble for now. Seeing my opportunity I grabbed her pokeball off my belt and returned her to stasis until I could get her to a pokemon center.

I then turned back toward the the foxes and, after menovering my way around the burning shrubbery, began to make my way backwards, keeping them in my eye sight incase they tried to do anything.

I felt myself tense in fear as the cub rushed forward and yipped as it came to my side, walking at about the same pace. Hesitantly I lowered myself I pushed it back in the direction of its mother.

The small fox gave me a confused look before going back to its mother. Only to stop as the Ninetales narrowed its eyes and flicked its nose back to me. Now I was the confused one as I watched the Vulpix barke happily and rush to my side. I tried to push it back again but its' mother growled and took on a threatening stance.

No longer trying to prevent the Vulpix from following me I walked slowly into the forest. As soon as we passed the tree line I turned and ran. I ran as hard as I could, only stopping to avoid the various pokemon living in the forest. I ran until I couldn't run anymore.

Gasping for breath I leaned on a nearby tree, using it for support. My knees buckled and I was laying on the ground, back to the tree and covered in sweat. As I regained my breath and took a drink from the water bottle in my travel pack I felt something brush up against my leg.

Looking down I found the Vulpix, forepaws resting on my leg, looking up at me with wide eyes. As I stared back I couldn't help but sigh and and tilt my head back as I looked at the canopy of trees above us. It looked like the small fox had followed me. Turning back to it I found myself talking to it.

"So little thing, you want to come with me and my team?"

I'm not sure if it could understand me but it sure seemed too because at my words it gave and excited yip, jumped into my lap and began to nuzzle my chest. As I worked my arm up to the small pokemon I scratched its ears and couldn't help but smile. This wasn't so bad. Although hesitant to bring the cub after what my team and I went through with its mother I suppose I wasn't in any position to deny it what it wanted. And if it wanted to join my team and go traveling who was I to say no?

Standing back up I began to walk. We were a long way from the path and if we wanted to get to the city we would have to find it again. As I pushed a branch out of the way and saw my new Vulpix dash ahead I couldn't help but get the feeling that things were looking up.

As I watched my little cub follow after the human I couldn't help but let out a snort. That one was alway making trouble, always going out into the woods and exploring, never letting me know where he went. Didn't he know that he was to young for that?

I flicked my tails in annoyance as I turned to the rest of my cubs. They were still growing but I could already see the differences between him and the rest of them. He was more adventurous than the rest of them. Honestly it was a good thing that human had come along when he did. I'm not sure I could have kept him here much longer. At least with the human he won't get into as much trouble. Given how far the boy went for the other pokemon in his care I think that he'll be able to keep my cub in check while traveling.

I guess there are more humans like that than I thought. I haven't seen one that would risk their life since my old trainer. Now that was a good human. Friendly, helpful, and he always had good food on hand. Now that she thought about it she must have meet him when she wasn't much older than her cub. Shame what happened to him, he was such a good trainer too.

Breaking away from my reminiscing I returned my attention to my cubs and watched as they tackled each other. I study their coats and only confirm what I already knew.

I can see their tails already beginning to take on the deep red color of the rest of their fur. Yes, it was the right decision to send that one away. The others never would never have accepted him when his tail remained white, much less when the color began to spread to the rest of his fur.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not, have never, and most likely will never own Pokemon in any way shape or form. This story is just for the personal enjoyment of those that read it and does not, nor ever will, receive any monetary support. Thank you.**

* * *

So as it turns out Vulpix and I had gotten quite lost while I ran away from Ninetales. The forest is a big place and I wasn't exactly paying attention to where I was running in my panic to get away. We ended up just wandering around for a while until Vulpix smelled something. Taking off like a rocket he began to run ahead of me, pushing his way through bushes and shrubs to get to whatever he had found. Realizing that I couldn't leave him alone, I found him being bullied by a bunch of Weedle for god's sake, who knew what kind of trouble he could get into. I began to follow after him

He ended up not being very hard to follow. In his rush to get to whatever he had smelled he left quite the trail of destruction. I passed plenty of crushed flowers and bushes with holes in them as I chased him down.

Fortunately Vulpix didn't wander into any Pidgeot's territory, although that would have been the cherry on top that to really complete my awful first day as a trainer. Vulpix had instead found a bush of wild Oran Berries. Seeing that he was just trying to eat the berries I decided now would be a good chance for us to rest. Sitting down I took another swig of water and looked up at the canopy of leaves above us. I suppose that I should just be glad that Vulpix hadn't found and tried to eat anything poisonous.

He ended up not being very hard to follow. In his rush to get to whatever he had smelled he left quite the trail of destruction. I passed plenty of crushed flowers and bushes with holes in them as I chased him down.

Gazing at the shifting leaves I felt my eyes droop. Was this really still my first day as a trainer? It seemed like far to much had happened for it to still be the same day. I chuckle to myself. What a way to start. Chased by as swarm of Beedrill then escorted to a Ninetales by her cub that I had saved. Only to have that same Ninetales beat me and my starter into the ground and force me to take the cub with us on our journey. I might have wanted adventure, but i'm not sure I ever expected so much of it on my first day.

The wind whistled through the leaves on the low hanging branches and an idea it hit me. Why didn't I climb a tree? That was what I should have done as soon as I realized we were lost. Climbing to the top of a large tree would surely help be get a better lay of the land then just wandering around. Turning to Vulpix i began to explain my idea to him.

Only to find his red fur stained Oran Berry blue. I guess while I had been relaxing he had helped himself to the wild berry patch. Feeling my gaze Vulpix turned and gave a yip of excitement as he rushed over to me and dropped an Oran Berry next to me. I guess he didn't get to eat those very often.

Feeling a smile make its way onto my lips I took my water bottle and began to use the water to wash to berry juice out of Vulpix's fur. This cub was just to cute. Even after everything that Rattata and I had gone thought with its' mother less than an hour ago I couldn't hold it against him.

Feeling the water on his fur as I tried to clean him Vulpix started wiggling and struggling to escape my clutches. Slipping out of my hands he shook himself, spraying water everywhere and soaking my shirt. He quirked his head and flattened his ears before retreating to another tree to clean himself.

Feeling my newly soaked shirt stick to me in the humid weather I decided that Vulpix was perhaps not as cute as I had initially thought.

Setting down my pack I walked over to Vulpix and slowly placed my hand on his forehead. Beginning to scratch behind his ears I apologized for covering him in water and explained that I was just trying to help clean him up as well as my idea to get back on the path. As I talked I could feel him nuzzle into my hand, lifting his head he gave my hand a playful nip.

With a smile back on my face I ran my fingers through his fur one more time and told Vulpix to stay by the pack while I climbed. Watching him run over to a nearby sun beam and lay down I couldn't help but feel like he understood me.

Turning my attention to the nearby trees I began to look for pokemon nests and hives, wouldn't want to get halfway up a tree only to be met with an angry parent. I think i'd had enough of those for today. Walking a few meters through the forest I found a solid looking tree with low hanging branches and no visible pokemon. Perfect.

Grabbing onto one of the trees' low hanging branches I pulled myself up and onto the limb. Looking for another branch I spotted one to my left and tried to move to it. Slowly I moved one of my legs to the branch, testing to see if it would hold. The branch swayed slowly under the weight of my leg. No good, i'd have to try another one. Moving my leg to another branch I found that this one would hold my weight and slowly moved onto it, then I found a limb above me that would hold my weight and pulled myself onto that one. Rinse, repeat. I had been climbing trees so long that I barely even noticed the rest of the climb.

It was the wind that made me realize how high I was. Turning my attention from the tree I was desperately clutching I looked out and gasped at the view.

Saffron City was clearly visible and the sun was glinting off the thousands of windows that adorned Silph Co. Tower. The light reflecting off the tower spread out and illuminated the dark clouds closing in, making them a light show of muted blues, greens, and greys. I'd never seen anything like it and I couldn't take my eyes off it. Because those clouds were coming in fast, it was going to rain soon and I still didn't have a tent yet.

Groaning at my continued bad luck I looked away from the clouds, although they were closing in they weren't the current problem. Scanning the forest canopy bellow I managed to find a break in the treeline, It looked like while Vulpix and I hadn't been walking on the path we were still headed in the same direction and, judging from the size of Saffron City in the distance, we couldn't be more that an hour away. Hopefully that would be enough to avoid the rain.

Quickly working my way down the tree I ran over to my pack and found Vulpix ,who had apparently fallen asleep beside it. I didn't have time to wake up Vulpix, poor thing must have been tired after everything it had done today, so after slinging on my travel pack I simply picked him up and began to run. With the rain clouds closing in we didn't have much time.

Racing through the woods I skidded onto the path and continued down it to Saffron City. I suppose I could have continued on towards Saffron from where I was in the woods, but I didn't want to take that chance. If I encountered any pokemon in the woods i'd be done for, with both Rattata and Weedle out of commision my only option left would have been Vulpix. That was an option I didn't even want to consider for another few years. So I continued down the path instead.

Being a farm boy I had a lot of stamina and had spent plenty of time running; now every ounce of that stamina was being slowly drained as I trudged towards the ever growing city. Breath in, breath out, breath in, breath out, keep a steady pace, don't stop for anything. My blood was pounding in my ears and I continued forward, cradling the slowly waking Vulpix cub in my arms.

As I approached the city I could feel my stamina slipping away, my sweat staining the straps of my pack, now feeling as though it was a boulder strapped to my back instead travel supplies and Vulpix was feeling like a fully grown Ninetales as opposed the the baby that it was.

Crossing the entrance to the city I slowed down and almost collapsed into a Pokemart, desperate to find a place to rest and it being the nearest building that I would be allowed entrance too.

I gasped for breath on the ground of the Pokemart, right next to the door and Vulpix leapt out of my aching arms. Now fully awake Vulpix circled back to me, sniffing me and making small barks. Slowly regaining my breath I just sat there and watched Vulpix, listening to the pitter patter of rain as it began to fall. Giving one more bark Vulpix turned and ran off into the Pokemart. I closed my eyes and groaned, now I had to find Vulpix.

Resting for just a few more minutes I finally regained my breath and started to get up. Only to see Vulpix return with a young women in tow.

Dressed in a standard blue Pokemart Polo she carried an air of confidence around her and a towel in her hand, her name tag read Ellie. Walking up to me Vulpix gave a yip and circled me with a happy nuzzel. The girl on the other hand simply handed me the towel.

"Hey there Stranger" she said with a slight accent "Let's get you cleaned up."

I accepted the towel and began to wipe the grim off of me.

"Thank you," pitter patter, pitter patter " is there anything I can do to repay you?" I asked, a tired smile making its way onto my face.

"Anything you can do for me?" she laughs "You're the customer, shouldn't I be asking you that? Although, between you and me, it would be great if you would buy something. Today's been real boring and I want to sell something on my last day here." there's a smile on her face now.

"Last day here?" I ask, a thought forming in my head "Are you a Journey Trainer as well?"

"Yep! I've been a trainer for about 5 months now, started in Cerulean City with a Horsea, what about you?" she asks as we begin to walk through the Pokemart.

My smile grows wider as we talk "It's actually my first day, I don't even have my Trainer's Licence yet."

"You don't even have your Trainer's Licence? Wow, talk about a newbie." she says, the playful teasing in her tone evident. "How about this, I'll give you the discount the Trainer's Licence gets you on Pokemart stuff anyway; you seem like a good guy and it's not like they can punish me for it, I already got my last check."

Arriving at the counter she goes to the register and rings up a Pokeball for me. "Woah, hold on there a second I can't ask you for this this" I say, panic slipping into my voice as I hear what she says.

Pitter patter, pitter patter, pitter patter

"Ah come on, my treat to a new trainer." she ignores my panic "besides, it looks like you need it" she motions to Vulpix who had followed us to the counter and was now sniffing a battle item rack not far away.

"Well yeah but-"

"Perfect. Here's your pokeball, that'll be 200"

Pulling the money out of my wallet I wince. Mom and Dad had given me some money to start my journey and buy supplies but I was definitely going to be to work a job for a little while before I could really start traveling. I just didn't have that much money and items like tents, camping supplies, and food could really rack up quite the bill. Buying this pokeball was going to leave me with just a little more money than was required to pay for my Trainer's Licence, probably just enough to pay for a hotel room.

Sighing I handed the girl, Ellie the money and got my new pokeball.

I call Vulpix over with a shout and he jults up, startled and stops sniffing the potions on the shelf. He runs over to me and I crouch down. I show him my new pokeball and explain that if Vulpix wants to stay with me and the rest of my team he's going to have to travel around in on of these. As I run my fingers through his fur I watch as Vulpix examines the sphere in my hand. He sniffed it and stared intently at it for a minute. I'm reminded of his mother after she beat us. Finally Vulpix touches his nose to the button on the ball and pushes it in.

The pokeball's red laser shorts out and envelopes Vulpix. It covered him for a second before both the laser and Vulpix seem to go flat and shoot back into the ball. The ball rocked back and forth for a minute before letting out a small jingle.

I'm glad that Vulpix is officially registered as a caught pokemon now. Before anyone could have thrown a pokeball and caught him right out of my arms. It might have been less than a day since he joined me but I already felt attached to him.

Standing back up I turn to Ellie. "Thank you for your help, really, it was very kind of you."

Ellie playfully punches my arm "You can thank me by giving me a battle some time. I might be leaving in a few days, but it sounds like your going to get a job here for a little while if that wince was anything to go by. When you do finally get out of this town come find me and introduce yourself Stranger." she says all of this with another laugh, I get the feeling that she laughs quite a bit.

"Yeah, I'll see you then." I reach out and shake her hand. It's a promise, one day we'll see each other again.

Waving goodbye to her I clip Vulpix's pokeball to my belt and head back to the front of the store. I can see through the glass sliding doors that the rain has really picked up now. I'll have to book it to the Pokemon Center.

Dashing out into the rain I use my pack as a makeshift umbrella by leaning forward and sliding the pack up my back until it covered my head. I make my way towards the Pokemon Center only a few buildings away. They had to be close to the town or city exit incase of an emergency where a pokemon was hurt in the field and couldn't be put into stasis.

As I approach the bright red building the glass doors opened, automatic doors where a godsend. Walking inside I straighten up and slide my pack back down. I walk up to the counter and the Nurse Joy stretches and yawns before looking at me, must have been a long day for her to.

"I'm here to register for my Trainer's License."

She gives me a radiant smile. "Oh that's so nice, I rarely get to register any new Career Trainers, usually the Joy with the morning shift gets to handle all of them."

"I got a bit delayed on my way here, ran into some trouble along the way. Can you also take a look at my pokemon, they're all a bit exhausted from the trip here and my Rattata was hurt in a fight with a Ninetales."

Her eyes widen and she perks up.

"Of course, that sounds like quite the story. I'll get right on it while you finish your registration paperwork." she pulls out a small pile of papers and passes it to me.

"I suppose that if you're registering to be a Career Trainer you already know this but it's part of procedure for me to be sure. As a Career Trainer your are required to take on a pseudonym to prevent anyone from using your real name to gain access to your pokemon or personal information such as family and current location"

"Nurse Joy; It's fine" there's a hint of excitement in my voice, this was it, this was where I would remake myself from that farm boy into a Pokemon Trainer.

"I'm just making sure you know what name you want. You wouldn't believe the number of trainers that come in and chose a name like Bill or Joey." she says all of this with a huff, her hands on her hips as she laments trainers past.

"I'm sure Nurse Joy. I've thought about this for a long time" I say, unable to hide my excitement from her "You can call me Oscar."

Arc 1: We're not out of the woods yet. - Complete


End file.
